In fishing operations and other marine operations in cold seas such as northern waters in the coldest season, it is desired for the workers to wear a cold-proof water-proof garment for coping with the coldness and saving life in case of a possible marine accident.
The prior art cold-proof water-proof garment is formed by uniting portions corresponding to a coat, pants, gloves and boots and also providing a separate or united hood, providing the whole dress with water-proof and heat insulating functions and providing at least the coat portion with a buoyancy sufficient to allow the man who wears it to float on the water surface. Further, the front section of its coat portion is provided with a water-tight fastener so that it can be worn and taken off by opening the fastener. The hood is formed with a front opening, the edge of which is made of a flexible material to prevent entry of water into the inside of the garment through the opening. This garment, however, has problems in the movability or ability of the man who wears it to do work and also in the posture, in which he or she floats on the water surface.
To be more specific, the cold-proof water-proof garment is designed such that the man who wears it will never die from drowning or perish in a short period of time when he or she falls into water provided it is worn perfectly. Actually, however, if the man who wears the prior art cold-proof water-proof garment mentioned above even perfectly is thrown into the sea in the event of an accident or the like, he or she flaots on the water surface nearly in a horizontal posture. If he or she floats with his or her front down in a trance, his or her face if submerged in the water so that he or she is suffocated. Even if he or she is not in a trance, he or she floats on the water surface very instably for rescue because he or she floats nearly horizontally so that the head, which is heavy in weight, tends to be inclined downwards.
Further, in fishing operations on the sea, the worker sweats a great deal because of very intense physical efforts paid for the work even in the coldest season and also irrespective of whether he or she is wearing the cold-proof water-proof garment or not. For this reason, the worker usually wears the cold-proof water-proof garment in a loose or relaxed state around the neck loosened with an upper portion of the fastener opened when he or she is in the work. If the worker wearing the garment in this state falls into the sea, however, cold sea water will enter the garment through the open upper portion of the fastener so that the garment will no longer serve its role.
The worker also wears the cold-proof water-proof garment with the fastener thereof opened when he or she does the work because of water-tight structures provided on the portions of the garment around the neck and wrists. To be more specific, when the cold-proof water-proof garment is perfectly worn, its portions corresponding to the neck and wrists are in close contact with the neck and wrists in a suitably shrunk or bound state. The fastener is often opened for obtaining a relief from the strong binding of the neck by the corresponding portion of the garment.